President Macron seeks to end French train staff’s cherished job perks

President Macron wants to end the special arrangements that allow French train drivers to retire at 52FRED TANNEAU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

President Macron set the stage for battle with France’s powerful railway unions yesterday with plans to scrap cherished employment rights that governments have long avoided reforming.

The unions cried foul and vowed strikes to block Mr Macron’s overhaul of the SNCF state railways. His gamble is drawing comparison with Margaret Thatcher’s showdown with the miners in Britain in the mid 1980s. Unions, which had already announced a strike for March 22, were infuriated Mr Macron’s planned use of executive decrees to force through his reforms by the summer, avoiding long parliamentary procedure.

Édouard Philippe, the prime minister, said the government “is not seeking a fight with anyone” but added that it was time to carry out the overhaul.

In 1995, strikes forced President Chirac to…

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